Welcome Guest. Please login or register.All items are guaranteed authentic for eternity!Please call us if you have questions 252-646-1958.Thanks for your business!Welcome Guest. Please login or register.Internet challenged? We are happy to take your order over the phone.Please call if you have questions 252-646-1958.Thanks for your business!

Ivan Alexander divided his kingdom between his two sons. Ivan Stratsimir received Vidin. In 1365, the Hungarian King Louis I of Anjou captured Vidin. Sratsimir and his family were held captive in Croatia for four years but in 1369 Sratsimir was restored to his throne under Hungarian overlordship. After the Ottoman invasion in 1388, he was forced to acknowledge Ottoman overlordship and garrisons. In 1396 Sratsimir and his subjects aligned themselves with the anti-Ottoman Crusade led by the Hungarian king Sigismund of Luxemburg. The crusade ended in disaster at the battle of Nikopol on 25 Sep 1396. By the end of 1397 Sultan Bayezid I approached Vidin and, assured by the promise of his safety, Ivan Stratsimir came out to meet him. On the order of Bayezid I, Ivan Stratsimir was arrested and conveyed to Bursa, while the Sultan confiscated the contents of the Vidin treasury. Sratsimir's fate is unknown. Vidin was likely annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1397, but at least part of the realm remained under the control of Sratsimir's son and heir Constantine II.

The Second Bulgarian Empire, 1185 - 1396, reached its peak under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II and was the dominant power in the Balkans until 1256. Bulgaria defeated the Byzantine Empire in several major battles. In 1205, Kaloyan defeated the newly established Latin Empire in the Battle of Adrianople. Ivan Asen II defeated the Despotate of Epiros and made Bulgaria a regional power. Bulgaria spread from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and the economy flourished. Tarnovo, the capitol, was considered a "New Constantinople" and became the cultural hub and the center of the Eastern Orthodox world. In the late 13th century, however, the Empire declined under constant invasions by Mongols, Byzantines, Hungarians, and Serbs, as well as internal unrest and revolts. The 14th century saw a temporary recovery and stability, the "Second Golden Age of Bulgarian culture," when literature and art flourished. This was also, however, a period of Balkan feudalism as central authorities gradually lost power in many regions. Bulgaria was divided into three parts before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.ME85965. Silver gros, Imitative of a Venetian grosso of Giovanni Dandolo (1280-1289); Radushev-ZhekovType 1.17.1, Youroukova-Penchev 160, Dochev Ė, gVF, well centered, weight 1.232 g, maximum diameter 19.9 mm, die axis 0o, uncertain mint, early 14th century A.D.; obversenimbate Christ Pantokrator enthroned facing, holding gospels in lap, IC - XC (Greek abbreviation: Iισους Xριστος - Jesus Christ) flanking Christ's head; reverse Doge, standing on left, receiving tall flag from St. Mark, standing on right, DVX down flag staff; very rare; SOLD